A newfound uncertainty surrounds the future of defensive end Jared Allen in Minnesota.

The 31-year-old edge rusher is entering the final season of a six-year, $73.26-million contract he signed in April of 2008 and said he has yet to hear from the Vikings regarding a new deal.

“We haven’t talked one iota,” Allen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “It is what it is.”

Allen, who is slated to earn approximately $14.3 million in 2013, has made it painfully clear that he will not accept a pay cut or restructure.

“You use the word ‘restructure,’” he said, “and that to me makes it feel like they’d want me to take a pay cut. And if anybody asked me to take a pay cut, I’d be through the first door out of here.”

What further complicates the situation is, despite the NFL’s 2007 and 2011 sack leader having not missed a single game due to injury since 2004, durability is at least a slight matter of concern.

Allen had surgery on Jan. 31 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an issue he learned about prior to the 2012 season — and played through — along with a minor meniscus cleanup in his right knee, done on the same day.

He also landed on the team’s injury report at various times with neck, groin, and back issues this past season

The boisterous 6’6”, 270-pound figure confirmed he would prefer to remain in the land of 1,000 lakes, but conceded that he’s unsure of where he will be playing football in 2014.

“I talk to my wife, and we’ll end up going where the good Lord takes us but I don’t know where that path is headed,” Allen said. “Best-case scenario would have been that we would have never gotten to this point ... best-case scenario would have been the organization would have gotten something done (contractually) a few years back.”

The Vikings acquired Allen from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008 in exchange for a first-round pick, a pair of third-rounders, and a sixth-round pick, before signing him to his mega-deal.

The four-time All-Pro has proven to be worth every bit of the physical and financial assets that Minnesota surrendered for his services, as he has amassed 74 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and 274 tackles since donning the purple.

Although performance and production place him firmly into the NFL’s elite group of pass rushers, Allen’s age will make it an arduous task to remain among the league’s highest-paid defenders.

As evidenced by the tepid interest that veterans John Abraham, Richard Seymour, and Dwight Freeney (who just recently signed with San Diego) received this off-season, the Idaho State alum must form a more realistic view of his worth — or perhaps find himself waiting for a suitor next summer.

For the time being, it appears Jared Allen is entirely healed and mentally prepared for the coming season and his ambition of bringing the Vikings to a Super Bowl remain unchanged.

DOT DOT DOT

Speaking of the Minnesota Vikings, all-everything running back Adrian Peterson shared his eyebrow-raising beliefs on a delicate topic while speaking to hosts Bruce Murray and Amani Toomer of SiriusXM NFL Radio on Thursday.

After being asked whether recently released former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, a vocal advocate for gay marriage, received his walking papers in part due to his outward activism, Peterson offered his own thoughts on the subject.

“To each his own; I’m not with it,” said the league’s current most valuable player, “but I have relatives that are gay, I’m not biased towards them. I still treat them the same. I love them, but again, I’m not with that. That’s not something I believe in, but to each his own.”

The five-time all-pro, who made a widely publicized and unprecedented recovery from a torn ACL in 2012, then addressed the matter about Kluwe.

“I’m sure the Vikings organization did not release him based on that,” Peterson said. “They know Kluwe. They’ve been knowing him for a long time and they know he’s outspoken, but it hurt me to see him leave. He was a good friend of mine and a really cool guy ... probably one of the smartest guys I’ve ever been around.”

The comments come on the heels of NBA centre Jason Collins coming out as pro sports’ first active, openly gay athlete a month ago.

Despite his beliefs, Peterson is still rightfully regarded as one of the league’s most genuine and down-to-earth individuals, contributing to numerous charities and even saying he will give financial and physical aid to the state of his alma-matter, Oklahoma, following Monday’s devastating tornado.

JAWS NO FAN OF KELLY’S SCHEME

One of the more interesting side-plots of this off-season was the Philadelphia Eagles decision to hire former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly as heir to long-time leader Andy Reid.

Kelly’s unconventional, yet highly intriguing up-tempo offense is unique to the NFL and has sparked a healthy dose of debate as to whether it will be effective at the pro level.

ESPN analyst and former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski weighed in while speaking on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic with Harry Mayes and Nick Kayal this past week.

“It’s going to be interesting to see if this style of offence projects to the NFL,” Jaws said. “I’m going to say no.”

“I just don’t see NFL passing concepts in this offence. It’s a movement offence by the quarterback, off the run-action, off the read-action. A lot of short, quick passes, dart routes, bubble screens ... very few plays down the field with NFL passing concepts.”

Jaworski again noted the difficulties ahead in order to successfully transition the offense to the NFL, but offered Kelly and the Eagles his best wishes.

“It’s easy to say ‘Yeah, it worked in college,’ but then I looked at a game like (Oregon vs.) Stanford ... Stanford, a good defensive football team, shut them down,” he said. “I hope it works. I like the innovation, but I think it’s going to be very difficult.”

The injury will keep the 2010 sixth-round draft choice from USC out for “at least six months,” reported USA Today.

While not the starter, McCoy is still a quality all-around backup with good receiving skills.

Fortunately for Seattle, the organization selected intriguing tight end Luke Willson of Rice University in the fifth round of April’s draft.

Willson, a LaSalle, Ont., native, is now pegged to step up relatively early in his rookie season and fill the newly vacant backup role.

The organization has the option to place McCoy on the physically-unable-to-perform list, which would allow the fourth-year player to rehab for a maximum of 12 weeks during the regular season without counting against the team’s 53-man roster.

Additionally, it could choose to place him on the injured reserve list, ending his season, or he may be designated as a waived/injured player in training camp.